VideoGamer.com Plays April 8, 2012

The games we've been playing this week.

I have a tale of misery and woe for you today. On Monday VideoGamer.com sales man Andy Spenceley convinced me to play PGR4 with him over Xbox LIVE that evening - he even tweeted excitedly about the events that were set to play out that very evening. I'll cut a long story short and say that there were no events that evening. He stood me up. It's a moment in my life I'll never be able to forget, the loneliness felt so great that I can't even bring myself to look Andy in the face any more.

Still, PGR4 remains great. I played it properly so long ago that I didn't even have the same gamertag, so I've started again and loving playing through all the events as if they're brand-new. Sadly bikes still aren't very good (in my opinion anyway), so I ignore them completely in favour of whatever cars are available. If a racing god exists, which going on the closure of Bizarre there probably isn't, PGR would return one day, sliding around a bend, racking up tons of kudos and then appearing in my disc drive. That would be a good day.

As I mentioned in my blog earlier this week, Double Fine's recent antics have inspired me to check out a few of the old adventure games I missed way back in the Old Days of point-and-clicking. I was always put off by Gabriel Knight, mainly because I assumed he was a bit of a Goody Twoshoes. I mean come, on: Gabriel Knight?

Well, turns out I was wrong, and it only took me the best part of two decades to find out. Gabe is a womanising egotist, but it's okay because he's voiced by Tim Curry in an amazing Southern drawl. He's the kind of guy who breaks into houses so he can chat up the posh lady who lives there. Elsewhere, New Orleans locals are getting their hearts ripped out by a gang of untraceable weirdoes who are definitely not practising Voodoo, though they clearly are. Oh, and Mark Hamill is in charge of the police. The puzzles might be maddeningly hard, but that won't put me off – there's far too much to enjoy here.

I had to buy lightbulbs this week. Lightbulbs! Has anyone ever bought lightbulbs? Basically, there are loads of types of them, with all different kinds of fitting. Previously I thought there was just, like, lightbulbs. Anyway, I went with a 9W energy saving halogen bulb with an E11 fitting. That was basically a game, right? I also played The Witcher II this week, but in the end I played Skyrim more. So for me it's basically diddling around with my new flat, playing a game that's a year old or playing a game I feel like I've been playing for about a decade now.

Unsurprisingly, Skyrim won. Skyrim always wins. They should have called it Skywin. I haven't done the main quest in so long I think I've forgotten what the main quest is actually about. Something about dragons, right? If you ask me the main quest was to get Daedric armour and then stomp around looking like a complete dude, which I am currently excelling at. I spent, like, another couple of hours rummaging around in mines for useless stuff I don't need. Skyrim.

Games are really boring at the moment, aren't they? I feel really sorry for people who, like, play games. Let's grit our teeth and bear it until Fez, Trials and Diablo III come out. Still, nothing like this time of the year to remind us how addictive those mobile games can be. Anyone playing DrawSomething? I'm squidmania.

Without giving too much away I spent the last week playing through The Witcher 2 on console, and by week I mean the last three days for something like 15 consecutive hours a day. So now that I've peeled myself off the couch and took out my IV drip of Redbull I can at least say I'm very excited to see how console gamers interpret the game. Where Dragon Age II has faint God of Wars-style tendencies in its combat and responsiveness, Witcher 2 is a slightly different animal. It encourages twitch combat, but in an oddly slower manner than what other games similar in vein tend to offer. Often actions aren't immediate when you trigger them, which is something that needs getting used to - and it can take hours. Still, if you've seen my review for PC you'll know how highly I think of the game - it's genuinely one of the most solid fantasy world's you'll find.

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User Comments

Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 multiplayer is all I'm playing at the moment. I want to blitz though ME2 but I'm always invited to games of ME3 and I just cant resist it.
I did get a massive game of BF3 when the patch was out and I mean massive, One round was taking close to an hour and a half. Unfortunately I lost connection near the end but I did finish with a KD of 77/45 and would of been second if I hand't lost the connection.

Almost all of Mass Effect, despite being crippled by choosing a pure Soldier build early on. It turns out that the reason I was sturggling against the Armature was because I had simply not levelled Ashley or Wrex up at all, and had not bothered with upgrades on any equipment. After I did this, that boss took me mere seconds, and nothing else in the game gave me any trouble at all.

And I then immediately moved on to Mass Effect 2, but this time took the chance to change build to include Techs and Biotics. Wish I hadn't bothered, to be honest. The second game is so much better than the first, but it seems weird how little choice you actually get in the way of weapons when it plays much more like a shooter.

Mass Effect 3: I started and finished this one last week. Very much enjoyed it.

Infamous 2: Enjoying this so far, it's very much more of the same but that's not always a bad thing.

Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension: this was bought to play with my daughter but I have found myself playing on my own. It tries to imitate the formual of the Lego games and does so relatively well but definitely one for the fans or the younger gamer.

still playing mass effect 3 finally landed on earth, expected better of the final show down so far but i must say i *****ing hate those asari reaper things that just teleport to where you are totally depletes the point of duck and cover

Still playing a lot of ME3 multiplayer. If anyone's online, playing ME3 MP, join in. I nned to get more silver class matches in, but it can get pretty intense. I'm not even brave enough to try Gold again. Wave 4 is my record, only wave 4!

Still plowing on with Dead Island. It is a bloody good experience, marred only by a few questionable design choices. Had the player the opportunity to carry energy drinks for a wee burst of health whenever needed, reduce the speed with with the superfast Infected-type zombies can take a player down, and a more robust and randomised loot system (with several more degrees of descriptor) - the game could have been a fantastic experience.

Still, very much a good recommendation - much better with a friend or three, but still enjoyable (if a little frustrating at times) as a singleplayer experience.

Decided to return to Fire emblem Sacred Stones... I seem to be a glutton for punishment, as I said last time I gave as the chapter was impossible because I was under levelled. While that it was true I couldn't beat the bosses legitimately, I did retrospectively find one way I could take them out. I used my summoner to summon expendable ghost units. Long and tedious strategy, and definitely not the intended purpose of the summoner, but it worked. Now I'm going to grind my units up a lot of levels before trying the next chapter.

Also played a game on steam called Reccettear. Nice little concept that the game has. Role reversal of the traditional RPG, you are tasked with running the item shop of a fantasy world, in order to pay off the debt of your "Hero" farther. You must refill stock, haggle with customers and hire adventurers to find treasures for you to sell in dungeon crawling segments. Nice game.

This week I had a look at my games and what I had played what I had left unfinished etc so spent quite a bit of time dipping back into arkham city, so far I don't love it like it many but I prefer it to asylum. The annoying glide, dive bomb sections tho can go to video game room 101.

I've spent the week playing Fifa 12 where I can and spent some time yesterday morning on MW3 multiplayer, it can be fun in small doses but eventually I always seem to be put in lobbies with ridiculously good players and I'm deathstreak after deathstreak...:(

I keep meaning to get back into Skyrim but I may leave that for another day as it will be a timely re-introduction methinks

This week I have put most of my gaming time into Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Being a cyberpunk fan I've really enjoyed most of it, so far. For a start the environments feel like a cool and stylish place to be and this take on China has become one of my new favourite video game locations. I've spent my time feeling like a badass vigilante; A sneaky yet vicious soldier of fortune. Sure, the game desperately wants to be Bladerunner (and Metal Gear?) and thats fine with me. But, after a few hours of being lured into a tangled web of politics, walking the thin line of publicly accepted biomod implants and seemingly offered free reign of my decision making. Then, the game decides to tighten the leashes and really restrict my options. The open maps of Detroit and The People's Republic of China made me feel like a mechanically enhanced detective, roaming the streets and getting ***** sorted Adam Jenson style. Everything was great until the fateful moment when I was locked in a room with hordes of enemies coming towards me. From that point onwards Deus Ex has two options; Passive, or aggressive. The structure of the environments have become a path to follow and the only decision making comes from whether I use an air duct to get into the next room, or I kick through the doors and open fire. I'm sure that I'm very close to the end of the game now and its been an interesting life to lead for a few days. I just feel saddened that it's resorted to generic 'ramp up the numbers' methodology.

It is a good game though and, if anything, it has generated my excitement for a game to come along that really does offer me the freedom to play in a way that Deus Ex: Human Revolution only teased of.

I've now racked up 1200 races in Forza 4 and still haven't got the achievement for doing one perfect drift, which should be an achievement in itself.

I've also worked out that Tom can't possibly hold a full clean drivers licence, Neon has a magnifying glass next to his monitor, Martin commutes to work in Daedric armour and Emily plays games all day then uses dream writing for everything else.

I'm now itching to get back into some good old kill the same stuff over and over to see what pops out type gaming, but have a pile of unplayed RPGs that actually wobbles when you walk past it, so I'll be spending a few days trying to figure out which one is next by which time The Witcher 2 and Diablo III and Borderlands 2 will have arrived.